


Dress Code

by MonitorofNothing



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Let's get Hecate into a Christmas jumper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21718756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonitorofNothing/pseuds/MonitorofNothing
Summary: Post s3. Indigo invites Hecate and Ada to spend Christmas with the Hubbles. Hecate struggles to embrace the idea.
Relationships: Ada Cackle/Hecate Hardbroom, Julie Hubble/Dimity Drill
Comments: 14
Kudos: 46
Collections: The Worst Witch Winter Warmers 2019





	Dress Code

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Ugly Holiday Jumpers

The alarm clock shrilled. Hecate flung a silencing charm at it and pulled a pillow over her head. "Tell me again why I am to suffer through Christmas Day with Dimity Drill?"

Ada half sat up and twitched the pillow away. Hecate screwed up her face in protest. "Why can't we just stay quietly here and observe our Yuletide traditions with dignity?"

"We've been doing that all week," Ada pointed out. "Besides, if you want to see Indigo we have to spend the day with the Hubbles. And Dimity seems to be part of the furniture there these days."

"More's the pity," Hecate growled.

Ada sighed, a little wistful. "Don't you think it might be fun to see how non-magical people celebrate this time of year?" 

Hecate inwardly kicked herself. She knew that Ada was looking forward to today and she had promised herself that she would try not to spoil it for her. It was just hard, after a blissful week spent alone together, following Hecate's beloved winter solstice rituals and eating all Ada's favourite foods, to suddenly have a bunch of other people and new ideas thrown into the mix. To be forced to socialise and compromise and smile as though she were enjoying it all.

Ada was out of bed now, pulling on a purple skirt that Hecate loved and a soft pink jumper embroidered with silver snowflakes.

"Come on, love," Ada coaxed. Hecate sighed and sat up. 

"Alright. I've said I'll go." She got up, and paused as she crossed the room to wrap an arm around Ada's waist and kiss the back of her neck in a silent apology for being grumpy. Then she let out a groan as she was struck by another thought.

"I bet she'll try to make us play _games…_ "

~*~

The two witches landed on the balcony outside Julie's flat, carefully parked their brooms next to Dimity's and unfastened their cloaks ready to go inside.

Dimity herself open the balcony door to them, resplendent in a violently turquoise jumper sporting a large polar bear juggling five fluffy snowballs. She had enchanted it so that the snowballs were really moving. It made Hecate feel quite ill. Dimity grinned.

"Well met Ada, you're looking lovely. Through you go." 

As Hecate moved to follow, Dimity blocked her path. "HB, I'm afraid I can't let you in. You're not appropriately dressed."

"I _beg_ your pardon?"

"I'm sure we mentioned the dress code? No Christmas jumper, no Christmas dinner. Simple as that."

Hecate gritted her teeth and looked to Ada for support. Really, this was utterly ridiculous. 

But Ada was busy hugging Julie and exclaiming over the Christmas tree and bending down to pet Star, who Hecate noticed with exasperated amusement was also wearing a brightly coloured jumper.

It wasn't as though she couldn't get through that door by magic if she wanted to. But transferring yourself inside somebody else's home without their permission was the very height of bad etiquette in the witching world and Hecate wasn't about to break the rules, even at a non magical home.

She did have a vague memory now of knitwear being mentioned in their invitation but she had assumed it was just one of Dimity's jokes. She wondered whether these jumpers were a really significant non-magical ritual. Was she being truly discourteous by omitting to wear one? She supposed that many of the great witching traditions might appear rather odd from the outside. But each of them had its part to play in the long dance of the year. ... She wished she had asked somebody what to expect before coming here. Pippa would have known, she thought, with all her non-magical born students…

"Are you _seriously_ telling me I can't come in unless I wear one of those?" she asked, unable to prevent a shudder as she looked again at the juggling polar bear.

"Oh come on, Miss Hardbroom!" Mildred's head appeared over Dimity's shoulder, wearing a strange floppy red hat trimmed with white fur. "After all," Mildred continued, "We _do_ go along with _your_ dress code when we're up at the castle…."

"...Barely," muttered Hecate, picturing the general state of Mildred's school uniform. Mildred just laughed and skipped back inside.

"Come on HB," said Dimity bracingly. "It's just a jumper. It's hardly a fate worse than death."

Everyone was saying _come on_ to Hecate today, she thought sourly. As though she hadn't forced herself to leave her cosy tête-à-tête in the castle, as though she weren't standing here in the doorway asking to come in and join a party that she hadn't really wanted to attend.

"But I don't even _have_ a-" Hecate began. Dimity chuckled and closed the door in her face. 

"I'm sure something will turn up," she called through the glass, and turned away to accept another drink from Julie.

Fuming, Hecate looked for Ada again and saw her with her arms full of cats, cooing hello to Mildred's scatterbrained tabby and Indigo's familiar, Jet. Where _was_ Indigo, Hecate wondered, peering through the window. Her question was answered almost immediately by a crash on the balcony behind her as Indigo materialised in the middle of Julie Hubble's display of winter flowers. Hecate tutted and moved to help clear up the mess.

"You ought to be more careful," she scolded. "A foot to the left and you would have gone right over the edge."

"I'm getting better though aren't I?" said Indigo, squashing the last plant back into its pot. She was wearing an oversized jumper covered with dancing penguins, and a hat like Mildred's. "I did that transference _without a potion,"_ she added proudly. Hecate was impressed despite herself. That _was_ a big improvement. But she didn't want to spoil the girl with praise so she just raised her eyebrows and flexed her fingers to send a cleansing charm over Indigo's muddy hands and knees.

Ada had noticed Hecate's absence by now, but she had also seen Indigo join her and decided to stay inside. Ada was always scrupulously careful about giving Hecate alone time with Indigo.

"Anyway," said Indigo, rather self-consciously summoning a bulky parcel out of vanishment, "I made you a present." Hecate had some trouble unwrapping it. Indigo had been very enthusiastic with the sellotape. She finally unstuck her fingers from the paper and pulled out what could only be her very own Christmas jumper. Hecate couldn't think what to say.

Indigo had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to try to make the jumper appeal to her. It was black, patterned with small gold stars. It had a high collar. Around the wrists and the waistband there was a valiant attempt to recreate the pattern of their friendship bracelets.

It was also very obviously Indigo's first attempt at magical knitting. The sleeves seemed to have been sewn on at slightly different heights. There were several dropped stitches that were starting to run, and some of the golden stars looked more like drunken squid.

Indigo was standing on one leg, looking at her hopefully. "Are you going to try it on?"

Hecate glanced through the window and saw Dimity grinning at her. She grimly forced her way inside the garment, no mean feat because the neck hole was very narrow. The arms were indeed rather lopsided and she had to shrug one shoulder up to make it fit. 

"Is it ok?" asked Indigo, biting her lip. Hecate looked down at the wobbly friendship bands covering her wrists. She remembered standing in the kitchen on the other side of the window and promising that she would not let Indigo down ever again.

"It's just right," she said, bestowing a rare smile upon her old friend, who danced a little jig and hugged her around the waist. Hecate awkwardly patted her on the back. She had never approved of hugging students, and she could only move one of her arms.

"Come on," said Indigo, and this time Hecate heard it as a warm invitation instead of code for _stop being such a party pooper._ "We're having ICE CREAM later!" She took Hecate's hand and pulled her through the door. 

~*~

Julie Hubble's head was inexplicably sprouting a pair of red foam antlers. Her jumper was emerald green with a robin on it and her face was wreathed in smiles as Hecate approached. 

"Welcome Miss Hardbroom, it's lovely to see you." 

_Really?_ wondered Hecate. It seemed unlikely. It wasn't as though they were friends or anything.

Julie offered a cup of punch and Hecate took it, grateful to have something to do with her hands, as her timepiece was trapped under the jumper. The drink was strong and spicy and to her surprise she liked it very much. She found herself drinking it more quickly than she had intended. A glow began to spread through her and it wasn't so hard, after all, to nod and smile along with Julie's pleasantries, and venture a few remarks of her own.

Hecate had never been one for festive decorations but she had to admit that the flat looked beautiful. Having two artists in the family was clearly an advantage. The tastefulness made an odd contrast to everybody's peculiar outfits, though on closer inspection of the Christmas tree Hecate did spot a few of Mildred's clumsy preschool craft projects which marred the overall elegance a little. She managed not to roll her eyes. Somehow she was finding the sentimentality rather endearing. It was the kind of thing Ada would have done, if they'd had children of their own.

There was lively music playing from somewhere. It was unfamiliar to Hecate but she felt Joy stirring deep inside her, longing to dance. She contented herself with drumming her fingers on her empty cup and resolving to be careful how much more she had to drink before dinner. Relaxation was all very well but she didn't want to lose control.

When Mildred called Indigo to help finish setting the table, Julie frowned at the starry jumper.

"That looks a bit uncomfortable. I did think it might not be quite the right shape. But I didn't want to hurt Indigo's feelings. If only I still had my magic... I used to be quite good at this sort of thing. Perhaps Miss Cackle could sort it out?"

"Miss Cackle can sort what out?" asked Ada, appearing beside Hecate and taking her hand. "And I keep telling you to call me Ada." A timer started to beep and Julie hurried back to the stove.

Ada's lips twitched as she took in Hecate's new outfit. "Oh yes! Very festive. Just needs a little bit of adjustment _here_ …" Hecate's shoulders relaxed as the jumper wriggled and reknitted itself to fit properly. "And _here…_ " The worst of the ladders closed up. "Oh, and..." Her fingers slipped below Hecate's neckline for a moment and scooped out the timepiece, arranging the chain on top of the jumper and letting it rest in its usual place. Hecate felt herself blushing at such a public display if intimacy. "...There," murmured Ada, stepping back and putting her head on one side to admire her handiwork. "Are you feeling comfortable now?"

Hecate raised an eyebrow.

"...I'm wearing a Christmas jumper and spending the day with three of the most irritating people I know. What do _you_ think?" She spoke with less venom than usual. The punch had mellowed her. True, Dimity and Mildred had been as exasperating as ever so far but Julie Hubble had been kindness itself, which Hecate felt was more than she deserved, given their history.

Ada smiled and kissed her, earning them a wolf whistle from Dimity.

" _I_ think you're too proud to admit that you're already quite pleased to be here."

Hecate opened her mouth to retort but closed it again as she realised that Ada was right. Being briefly shut out by Dimity had made her actually want to come in. And then Indigo had gone to such lengths to help her feel included in these strange non-magical celebrations. She wondered if Indigo had any idea of just how much time Hecate had spent since their shared childhood being the outsider at social gatherings. Either way, her thoughtfulness was touching. Hecate thought of her Yuletide visit to Indigo's statue this time last year. How lost and forlorn it had looked standing alone in the middle of the clearing. The way she had had to brush the snow off the girl's stone face. The charms she had had to renew to prevent frost damage... 

A new song came on the radio. Indigo seized her cat and waltzed him around the room, whirling and spinning until she tripped over the dog capering at her heels and fell sprawling onto the sofa beside Mildred, both of them helpless with laughter as Jet leapt out of Indigo's arms and landed halfway up the Christmas tree. Hecate steadied the tree with a spell. She recalled Indigo's tales of miserable holidays spent with relatives who didn't want her and felt an unexpected surge of pride that they had all come together to offer the girl something like a new kind of family.

Hecate looked across at Dimity, who winked and raised a glass to her before sneaking her free hand past Julie's waist to steal from the plate she was preparing, earning a slap on the wrist for her trouble. Hecate smirked. It looked as though Julie Hubble had her annoying colleague well in hand.

And Ada was here by her side, wholeheartedly embracing it all, and the flat was so warm and welcoming after the chilly balcony, and filled with the delicious scents of the feast to come.

… Yes, Ada was right. Hecate _was_ glad to be here after all.

After another cup of punch, she even joined in the games.


End file.
